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[Page 38]
Now I turn to illustrate the crimes against the Allied
airmen. The members of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi
Party participated in and shared the responsibility for the
murder, beating, and ill-treatment of Allied airmen who
landed in German or German- controlled territory. Many
Allied airmen who bailed out of disabled planes over Germany
were not treated as prisoners of war, but were beaten and
murdered by German civilians with the active condonation,
indeed at the instigation, of some of the Leadership Corps
of the Nazi Party. Such a course of conduct by the
Leadership Corps represented a flagrant and deliberate
violation by the German Government of its obligations under
the Geneva Convention to protect prisoners of war against
acts of violence and ill-treatment.
As shown by Document 2473-PS -- it is necessary to turn to
that -- which is a list of the Reichsleiter of the Nazi
Party appearing in the National Socialist Yearbook of 1943,
and by Document 2903, which is this large chart, Heinrich
Himmler was the Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party and thus a
top official in the Leadership Corps by virtue of his
positions as Reichsfuehrer of the S.S. and Delegate for
German Folkdom. I now offer in evidence an original order
Signed by Himmler, Document R-110, as Exhibit USA 333.
[Page 39]
It is dated 10th August, 1943, and I quote:
"It is not the task of the police to interfere in
clashes between Germans and English and American terror
fliers who have bailed out."
This order was transmitted in writing to all senior
executive S.S. and police officers, and orally to their
subordinate officers and to all Gauleiter. As shown in
Document 2473-PS and by the chart, Joseph Goebbels----
THE PRESIDENT: I was only thinking that the police are not
part of the Leadership Corps; are they?
COLONEL STOREY: But Himmler, if your Honour pleases,
combined offices himself of the Reichsfuehrer of the S.S.
and leader of the German police. He was an officer of the
State; he was an officer of the Party; and he issued this to
officials of the Leadership Corps.
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And your point is, this order of
Himmler's would be proof against the 600,000 members that
you have spoken of?
COLONEL STOREY: Not against the members, but I said against
the organisation as a criminal organisation, because from
the top it disseminated orders of this type through the
channels of the Leader ship Corps.
THE PRESIDENT: But that is what I was putting to you, that
it was not through the channels of the Leadership Corps, but
through the channels of the police.
COLONEL STOREY: But the police, if your Honour pleases, were
connected with the Leadership Corps, and Himmler stood at
the top of both. It does not show on that chart but it shows
on the other big chart, if your Honour pleases, with
reference to Goebbels who was a very senior official in the
Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, by virtue of his
position as propaganda leader of the Party.
In the issue of the `Voelkischer Beobachter' of 29th May,
1944, there appeared an article written by Goebbels, the
Reichsleiter for Party propaganda, in which he openly
invited the German civilian population to punish Allied
fliers shot down over Germany. I refer to Document 1676-PS,
Exhibit USA 334, which is the issue of the `Voelkischer
Beobachter' containing this article inciting the people to
the commission of war crimes. I now quote:---
"It is possible only with the aid of arms to secure the
lives of enemy pilots who were shot down during such
attacks, for they would otherwise be killed by the
sorely tried population. Who is right here? The
murderers who, after their cowardly misdeeds, await a
humane treatment on the part of their victims, or the
victims who wish to defend themselves according to the
principle: 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?
This question is not hard to answer."
Reichsleiter Goebbels then proceeds to answer this question
in the following language, and still quoting:--
"It seems to us hardly possible and tolerable to use
German police and soldiers against the German people
when it treats murderers of children as they deserve."
On the 30th May, 1944, the defendant Bormann, Reichsleiter
and Chief of the Party Chancellery, issued a circular letter
on the subject which furnishes indisputable proof that
British and American fliers, who were shot down, were
lynched by the German population. I offer this circular
letter of the defendant Bormann into evidence, Document 057-
PS, it is up towards the top in the original book
[Page 40]
THE PRESIDENT: Have you got the original book?
COLONEL STOREY: Just a moment, your Honour.
After alleging that in recent weeks English and American
fliers had repeatedly shot children, women, peasants, and
vehicles on the highways, Bormann then states as follows in
the second paragraph of the English translation. I quote:--
"Several instances have occurred where members of the
crews of such aircraft, who have bailed out or who have
made forced landings, were lynched on the spot
immediately after capture by the populace, which was
incensed to the highest degree. No police measures or
criminal proceedings were invoked against the German
civilians who participated in these incidents."
The attention of the Tribunal is particularly invited to the
fact that this letter of the defendant Bormann is
distributed through the chain of command of the Nazi Party,
expressly mentioning on the distribution list Reichsleiter,
Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, and leaders of the incorporated and
affiliated organisations of the Party. The defendant Bormann
requested in the first paragraph of the second page, which
is found in the English translation, that the local group
leaders (Ortsgruppenleiter) be informed of the contents. of
his circular letter orally -- only by oral means.
The effect of Reichsleiter Bormann's circular letter may be
seen in an order dated 25th February, 1945, which I now
offer in evidence. It is Document L-154, Exhibit USA 335. It
is an order from Albert Hoffmann, an important member of the
Leadership Corps by virtue of his position as Gauleiter and
National Defence Commissioner of the Gau Westfalen-South. It
is addressed to all county councillors, mayors, police
officials, and to county leaders and county chiefs of the
Volkssturm.
"Fighter bomber pilots who are shot down are in
principle not to be protected against the fury of the
people. I expect from all police officers that they
will refuse to lend their protection to these gangster
types. Authorities acting in contradiction to the
popular sentiment will have to account to me. All
police and gendarmerie officials are to be informed
immediately of this, my attitude."
The obligations----
THE PRESIDENT: Who is Hoffmann?
COLONEL STOREY: Albert Hoffmann was a member of the
Leadership Corps by virtue of his position as Gauleiter and
National Defence Commissar of the Gau Westfalen-South. In
this connection, if your Honour pleases, I quote the
provisions of the Geneva Convention, 27th July, 1929,
Article 2, which provides -- and I simply ask the Court to
take judicial notice:--
"Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile
power, but not of the individuals or corps who have
captured them.
They must at all times be humanely treated and
protected, particularly against acts of violence,
insults, and public curiosity.
Measures of reprisal against them are prohibited."
THE PRESIDENT: Is that the 1907----
COLONEL STOREY: 1929, the Geneva Convention dated 27th July,
1929, and is Article 2, and it was also ratified by Germany
and the United States. It is clear from the foregoing quoted
provisions that the Geneva Prisoners of War convention
imposes upon its signatories the strictest obligations to
[Page 41]
protect its prisoners of war from violence. The evidence
just presented shows that the German State violated this
provision. The evidence also proves that members of the
Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party participated in the
conspiracy to incite the German civilian population to take
part in these atrocities.

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